SUMMARY: Chopin1 was recorded by me in 1998. Who, what, when, where, and how is described in my blog entry “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future” which can be found at the top of this page. Chopin2 was recorded by Robert Silverman and a group from “Stereophile” magazine using around 10 times or more expensive equipment. If you don’t want to digest the above link, the gist of the opinion was that mine was preferred by most of those responding. Not a “landslide” vote, but adequate to suggest what many audiophiles have felt for years: The “pros” aren’t all that much to write home about, in way too many cases. I am leaving the downloads available if you’d like to try this yourself. I now return you to the original post…

Your opinions please. Herewith attached there are 2 files, Chopin1 and Chopin2. Your opinions of the engineering and general qualities of the recordings are solicited. Once a sufficient number of comments and thoughts have been received the details about each recording will be posted here.

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About malletteblog

If folks respond and push back, I will continue this blog. I do this to learn, not to teach. While I will defend my positions vigorously I will change them immediately upon evidence they are incorrect. This is how I learn, and I appreciate all efforts to help me not be a fool who learns only by experience.

One Response to Attention Audiophiles and Music Mavens…

This feels like old times when we’d have a group of horn heads in our house critiquing their new found equipment by A/B switching a recording to compare components, etc. Truth be told, “horn-heads” (5-8 guys) “in our house” (bedroom, which was the best place for the corner horns). Yikes!. At least Dave was there. So here’s my 2 cents.
File 1 is clear and forward in presence like being in a front row seat. Imagine a crisp, clear, star filled night where you feel like you can reach out and touch them.
File 2 ‘white noise’ and notes are of almost equal audible volume when the piece begins. As the brain adjusts and suppresses the noise the notes feel dull and buried. Imagine hearing a needle drop on a well worn record from outside the room where it’s being played. Or to keep the star analogy, the night sky is overcast and you go back inside.
Can you tell I think in pictures.